Badger’s Waddle by Nigel Edwards. Book review

Badger’s Waddle is your typical middle England village (or hamlet, if you like). With a village pub (The Waddling Badger), village store (Truckle’s General Store and Post Office), a church, school, Cupid’s Bank (not your typical bank…) and a couple of yokels on the green, life seems fairly idyllic to the masses of tourists visiting. What they don’t know though, is that Badger’s Waddle is a (if not the) focal point of existence, where multiple dimensions converge.

On one side, a dimension filled with giant, blood-thirsty rabbits called Mordults, on the other, another populated by cute but evil marsupials called Curserippers. An eternal war exists between the Mordults and Curserippers, fought on the territory between dimensions, Badger’s Waddle.

Much like the titular hamlet, Edwards’ novel straddles multiple genres – part fantasy, part sci-fi, part surreal comedy. The humour isn’t over-stressed, making this a very easy to digest and enjoyable romp, and the sci-fi aspect isn’t overly complicated, with tongue firmly in cheek (“…weakening the meniscus interface” as just one example).

If you’re fond of Jasper Fforde or Robert Rankin, have a look at Edwards’ work. Badger’s Waddle is a great first novel, and I eagerly look forward to his future output.